


"Friendly" Competition

by an_altoids_tin_of_wonders



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: 20 something men arguing about decorations, Christmas Fluff, Christmas decorating contest, M/M, Sorry Not Sorry, no no no but this is war bro, schmidts do not lose decorating contests, sponsored by The Clapper, too many nightmare before christmas references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-06 17:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5425235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/an_altoids_tin_of_wonders/pseuds/an_altoids_tin_of_wonders
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike has won the Christmas decorating contest in his neighborhood for three years in a row.<br/>He plans to make it four, despite the annoying guy with the well-decorated house that just moved in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Friendly" Competition

Mike surveyed his lawn carefully.  
Everything was in place, from the lights strung over the majority of his house to the 9 foot tall inflatable snowman standing proud next to the marker that declared his house an official participant in the yearly neighborhood decoration contest.  
Unfortunately, an identical marker also stood in his neighbor's yard.

Scott Cawthon.  
He had just moved here from God-knows-where, arriving towards the end of November and setting up his Christmas decorations. He had obviously heard about the neighborhood-wide contest --and the $250 prize-- because the red marker had gone up only two days after Mike's.  
He must not have realized, Mike reflected, that he was living next door to the guy who had won for the past three years.  
Because there he was, hanging lights and humming 'Making Christmas' from The Nightmare Before Christmas.  
His yard was covered in white light up reindeer and miniature white trees, glittering with silver tinsel. There wasn't snow on the ground yet, but when it fell, it would match the rest of the man's decor.

"Hey, Schmidt!"  
Mike blinked. He hadn't noticed Scott step down from the ladder, but here he was, striding across his lawn with a cocky smirk. He brushed his black fringe out of his eyes and pushed up his glasses.  
"Cawthon." Mike said with a politely neutral nod.  
"Check this shit out." Scott said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Alright, watch the house. You ready?"  
Fall Out Boy's cover of 'What's This' from the Nightmare Revisited soundtrack came blaring out of the outdoor speakers, with the lights coordinating with the music.

"Programmed to the tune?"  
"Programmed to the notes." Scott said triumphantly. "Those strings right there? The instruments. And that section in the front is matching the singing."  
Asshole was so proud of himself.

Mike had made it very clear the day after Scott put up his marker that this was a competition. He had very calmly stated that he won the past few years, and, you know, Scott shouldn't expect to win. Alright, maybe it wasn't as calm as that. It _may_ have earned them both a glare from Mike's other neighbor, a crabby woman in her forties, as they hurled a few choice words over the decorative foot-high fence on the property line. And now, as Mike walked back across his lawn following Scott shutting off his totally not impressive lights show, he couldn't help feeling that the whole thing had been in vain, since he was obviously still confident that he could beat Mike. But Schmidts didn't give up, and they certainly didn't admit defeat. He clapped twice, and his decorations glowed to life. \--- "Cawthon!" Mike stalked up to the fence. Scott had the nerve to just stand there, blinking innocently. "Someone slashed my inflatable snowman. Any idea who might've done that?" "Don't you pin this on me." "Well, I don't have anyone else to pin it on, now do I?" "How about the whole neighborhood of people who never win the contest because of you?!" He stomped back inside, muttering about how Mike shouldn't be so quick to judge people. \--- "Hey, Schmidt, c'mere a sec." Mike looked up from the plastic Santa he was arranging and walked up to the fence. His voice was soft, but angry in a way that was somewhat terrifying. "Look at my yard. Would you like to take a guess at what's missing?" He looked around, and realized almost immediately. Four or five of Scott's white reindeer were gone. "Look, I didn't-" "Don't. I just wanted to let you know I'll be pressing charges." "Charges? Look, Sc-" But he had already started walking away. That settled it. Scott wouldn't go through all this trouble for sabotage. \--- Mike checked the tent one last time. Prime location, as close to the property line as possible. If anybody even tried to vandalize anything, he would be right there. It was silent for a while to the point where Mike had pulled out his phone and started scrolling through tumblr. But then there was the sound of footsteps. He jumped out of the tent, stumbled a bit and pointed his flashlight in the general direction of Scott's yard. "What the f- Mike?" He looked like a deer in headlights, carrying a tent and a thermos. "Oh, it's you. What are you doing out here?" "Same thing as you, looks like." He set his tent down, and started setting up. "So, it looks like we can stop blaming each other, finally." "Yeah. Hey, uh," Scott looked up. "Yeah?" "D'you want to share the tent? I mean, we're both camping out here..." Mike trailed off, blushing slightly. "Yeah, sure." They passed the time talking, looking at Christmas stuff on Pinterest, and sharing the thermos of hot chocolate. During a lull in the conversation there was a sudden sound of scuffling outside. Mike tensed to get up, but Scott grabbed his arm. They waited until the grass-crunching noises were right by the tent before they got out. A couple of teenage boys stood frozen in the yard, clutching cans of spray paint. "It wasn't our idea! Your neighbor, that bitch, she paid us!" Scott and Mike exchanged a look. "Why don't you tell us everything that happened?" \--- The judging committee came around the next day, and when they got to Mike's neighbor's door, they simply plucked the marker out of the ground and informed her that she had been disqualified. Scott and Mike stood on the sidewalk, smiling and waving over the committee members' shoulders. "When this is all over, you want to go get coffee or something?" "God, yes." The fence between their houses had been taken down, and in its place was a little red sign proclaiming the area an official contest entry.


End file.
